On this FAQ pages you can find a collection of helpful tips and explanations for the usage of these pages. We assembled these questions into six groups: Registration, Convention, Online-Shop, L-Number-Exchange, Room-Sharing and Passenger-Exchange. In the three exchange sections we explain how to use the online exchange portals on this page. In the section Online-Shop we compiled some useful hints how to use the online shop. The topic Convention covers information about the event and, probably most important of all, in Registration we explain all important things related to registration on this page.

Users not registered can merely read the offers there and need to enter their data in order to make contact there, as well as providing a Captcha-code. This is unfortunately necessary to keep automatically generated Spam at bay.

Anyone interested in the 4th International L-Numbers Days can register at this site, no matter if he or she ends up participating or not. It is additionally necessary to purchase one of the conference packages through the integrated webshop to explicitly participate.

Step “Public Data”:
You can choose an avatar, i.e. a user´s picture, here. This will be displayed in the list of participants and, for the speakers, also in their biographies.
Next you can choose if you wish your name to be displayed on the site or not. If you choose not to display your name, it will be replaced by a place holder.
Please provide your sex next. This is especially important for the room exchange.
Finally you can also choose if you wish to have your city of residence given in the participants list.

Step “Non-Public Data”:
The data you provide here is meant exclusively for internal use. The address data is needed, among others, for your profile at the shop. Your birthday on the other hand is required to determine whether you might be entitled for the “Teenager” conference package. It is currently only possible to enter or choose this date in the English format (YYYY-MM-TT).
Your phone number is optional. It may assist us in reaching you in case of short-term changes. In the shop, on the other hand, the phone number is required. If you wish not to provide your phone number, you may enter model data here: due to software restrictions it is not possible for us to make this an optional field.

This exchange platform is offered exclusively online. We intend to provide a platform for the participants where they can offer or search for plecos.
Navigating to the ““>Convention” menu, you can find the platform for the “>Online L-Numbers Exchange. This time we offer this service to all users, not only the participants of the L-Numbers Days. It is thus available for the world-wise exchange of plecos.
We wish to stress again that the organizer, the IG BSSW e.V. and those acting on its behalf, cannot be held liable for this exchange platform. We exclusively provide the platform allowing participants to get into contact with each other.

Distances tend to be a bit longer at such an international meeting, which tends to result in rather high individual trip costs, especially in times of high fuel costs.
To counter these expenses, and also to help save the environment, we decided to install a “>Passenger Exchange.
We intend to provide a means to offer or search for, respectively, free places for the trip, including room for fish boxes. It goes without saying that neither the organization team, nor anyone else of the “>IG BSSW e.V. can be held liable for any trouble concerning transportation. We exclusively provide a platform to make contact. All legal aspects are subject to offeror and seekers.
The Exchange is split into the sub-categories outward trip and return trip. If you intend to place offers for both trips we would like to ask you to fill the form out twice.
You can find the “>Passenger Exchange in the ““>Convention” menu.
We wish to stress again that the organizer, the IG BSSW e.V. and those acting on its behalf, cannot be held liable for this exchange platform. We exclusively provide the platform allowing participants to get into contact with each other.

Single rooms are inevitably more expensive than half a two-bed room. We therefore installed the Room Exchange to make it possible that participants that cannot share a room with an acquaintance, friend or partner can also enjoy a cheaper room.
The “>event location, the H4 Hotel Hannover Messe, exclusively has double rooms. If you book a single room, you will get a double room for single use. It is therefore possible to book a single room up front and then offer the additional bed in our “>room sharing. Provided you find an appropriate roommate you can turn your single room into a double room at any time.
We hope to provide a means for undecided people to decide in favor of participation at the 4th International L-Numbers Days.
The “>room sharing is available in the ““>Convention” menu.
We wish to stress again that the organizer, the IG BSSW e.V. and those acting on its behalf, cannot be held liable for this exchange platform. We exclusively provide the platform allowing participants to get into contact with each other.

To place an offer at the Room Exchange you will have to “>register first. Once your account has been activated you can navigate to the “>Participants header, where you can find the menu to ““>Place an offer at the Room Sharing”.
This will provide a form which you should fill out diligently. Once the form has been submitted we will check each entry and then activate it immediately. We would like to ask for your understanding that this checking occasionally takes some time.

The boxes to be filled out at this form are mostly self explanatory, but we still provide some hints.

Type of Search

Here you can specify if you are looking for or offering a room

Smoker

Please provide whether you are a smoker or non-smoker. Of course, a non-smoker is at liberty to share a room with a smoker or the other way around. It is just important that both sides know before and can make their decision accordingly.

from

Provide the date of the day you intend to start offer/look for the room.

until

Provide the date of the day until which you intend to offer/look for the room.

Remark

Provide additional remarks here, such as if you snore, or if smoking/non-smoking is relevant for you, … .

To get into contact with an offeror at the “>Room Sharing, simply click the name of the offeror in the column “contact”.
You will then be directed to a contact form. Provided you have registered as a user on the L-Numbers Days site, the boxes subject, name and Email will be filled out automatically. These are your sender´s data. Once you click “send”, your request will be sent to the respective offeror.

It is also still possible to obtain merchandise from the L-Numbers Days 2009, 2011 and 2013. Please note that some of these goods are only available in very limited quantities. It is therefore possible that not all goods are available in all versions in the required amounts.

It is possible to receive your order at the conference or have them delivered immediately.

To get into contact with an offeror at the “>L-Numbers Exchange, simply click the name of the offeror in the column “contact”.

You will then be directed to a contact form. Provided you have registered as a user on the L-Numbers Days site, the boxes subject, name and Email will be filled out automatically. These are your sender´s data. Once you click “send”, your request will be sent to the respective offeror.

To place an offer at the Passenger Exchange you will have to “>register first. Once your account has been activated you can navigate to the “>Participants header, where you can find the menu to ““>Place an offer at the Passenger Exchange”.
This will provide a form which you should fill out diligently. Once the form has been submitted we will check each entry and then activate it immediately. We would like to ask for your understanding that this checking occasionally takes some time.

It is possible to purchase merchandise for the L-Numbers Days 2015 through our web shop. Please note that those items are specifically made for the conference. They will be produced only shortly before the L-Numbers Days in Hanover in November 2015 and will thus be available for shipping only as of November 2nd 2015.

We will have a yet to be determined amount of items produced beyond those explicitly ordered. Accordingly we will have a small booth at the conference and offer all these items for sale there.
We can therefore not guarantee up front if and how many items will be available in the web shop after the L-Numbers Days.

You can choose whether you prefer to receive your order right at the conference or have it shipped to you afterwards.

The boxes to be filled out at this form are mostly self explanatory, but we still provide some hints.

Type of Search

Here you can specify if you are looking for or offering these plecos.

Genus

Please provide the name of the genus.

Scientific abbreviations

Please provide whether you are dealing with a scientifically described species („empty“), one that has a certain resemblance to a scientifically described species („sp. Aff.”), one that is very similar to a described species (“cf.”) or an undescribed species.

Species

Please provide the name of the species or of the form.

L-/LDA-No.

You may provide the L-/LDA-Number here, if the species has one.

Number

Please provide the count of the fish available or the number of fish you are looking for, respectively.

Price

Please provide the price you are looking for or are willing to pay, respectively.

Please provide whether you are a smoker or non-smoker. Of course, a non-smoker is at liberty to share a room with a smoker or the other way around. It is just important that both sides know before and can make their decision accordingly.

Seats

Provide how many seats you are offering / looking for.

Transportation mode

Provide here if you are offering transportation for humans or only for Styrofoam boxes with fish.

Route

Provide a sketch of your intended route to provide the possibility of getting picked up on the way.

To place an offer at the L-Numbers Exchange you will have to “>register first. Once your account has been activated you can navigate to the “>Participants header, where you can find the menu to ““>Place an offer at the L-Numbers Exchange”.
This will provide a form which you should fill out diligently. Once the form has been submitted we will check each entry and then activate it immediately. We would like to ask for your understanding that this checking occasionally takes some time.

To get into contact with an offeror at the “>Room Sharing, simply click the name of the offeror in the column “contact”.
You will then be directed to a contact form. Provided you have registered as a user on the L-Numbers Days site, the boxes subject, name and Email will be filled out automatically. These are your sender´s data. Once you click “send”, your request will be sent to the respective offeror.

We cannot offer opportunities to house the animals at the conference for legal reasons. There will thus be no exhibition space for the plecos. It is every offeror´s own responsibility to adequately house the fish brought to the event. It will be possible to place the fish in the respective bathrooms at the hotel. Since it cannot be recommended to leave the fish in their transport bags for the whole three days of the event we would like to ask the participants to bring the following with them to adequately house the fish:

A tank, a plastic bowl or something similar

A matured sponge filter and a membrane pump or an internal motor filter

A heater

Some decoration material, so that the animals can find some hideouts.

For all those attending by plane we can offer – upon advanced booking – to obtain and provide plastic bowls containing about 40-50 liters of water for a service charge of 10 Euro.